Tour Civil War Kentucky in Three Days

Total Stops: 9
Total Time: 3 days
Total Distance: 96-mile radius

Before You Go:

• Print or Download this Tour Map.
• Learn more about the Battle of Richmond.
• Learn more about the Battle of Perryville.
• Read more about the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln.
• Read more about the Battle of Mill Springs.

Stop #1: Richmond Battlefield 

Time: 1.5 Hours

Details: http://battleofrichmond.org/historic-sites/4567779321

The Battle of Richmond was part of the important 1862 Perryville Campaign. Richmond was the site of one of the Confederacy's greatest victories.

What to do:

• Start at the Battle of Richmond Visitor Center.
• Explore the exhibits.
• Take a guided tour of the battlefield.

Stop #2: Camp Nelson National Monument

Time: 1.5 Hours

Details: https://www.nps.gov/cane/index.htm

Camp Nelson was a major Union supply depot for the armies of the Ohio and Cumberland. It was also the third largest recruiting base for African-American soldiers in the United States, with more than ten thousand black soldiers recruited there.

What to do:

• Explore the visitor center and museum.
• Tour the 3-mile interpretive trail that goes through the depot section and northern line of fortifications.

Stop #3: Mary Todd Lincoln House

Time: 2 Hours

Details: http://www.mtlhouse.org/

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln resided in this fashionable brick residence between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one, and Abraham Lincoln was a guest here following their marriage. 

What to do:

• Tour the house and examine personal artifacts from the Lincolns.

Stop #4: Lexington Cemetery

Time: 1 Hour

Details: https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/lexington-cemetery​

Although the Civil War brought division among families and within families, the Lexington Cemetery Company maintained a position of neutrality. In addition to private family lots, the trustees provided a general "Soldier's Ground" for the burial of Union dead and a corresponding Confederate lot for the burial of the Southern dead.

What to do:

• Explore the grounds.

Stop #5: Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate

Time: 2 Hours

Details: http://henryclay.org/

Besides being the home of the famed orator and Senator Henry Clay, the Ashland estate also saw action from the Battle of Perryville. 1,800 Confederates skirmished with 294 Union soldiers camped on the estate, killing 4 and capturing the rest.

What to do:

• Take a tour of the house and grounds

Stop #6: Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site

Time: 3 Hours

Details: http://www.perryvillebattlefield.org/index.html

Kentucky's greatest Civil War battle took place outside Perryville on October 8, 1862. It was the South's last serious attempt to gain possession of the state.

What to do:

• Explore the on-site museum.
• Take a self-guided walking tour of the battlefield.

Stop #7: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

Time: 2 Hours

Details: https://www.nps.gov/abli/index.htm

Established as a National Park in 1916, Abraham Lincoln National Historic Site preserves the early years of Lincoln's life with the enshrinement of a "symbolic" cabin in a neo-classic Memorial Building on the site where he was born.

What to do:

• Explore the visitor center and exhibit hall.
• Take a self-guided tour of the farm.

Stop #8: Middle Creek National Battlefield

Time: 1 Hour

Details: https://www.middlecreek.org/

The story of Middle Creek battlefield begins January 10, 1862, when an unknown colonel, James A. Garfield (who would later be President of the United States), leads the Union soldiers against the experience of Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall and his Confederate soldiers, in what would become the largest and most significant Civil War battle in Eastern Kentucky.

What to do:

• Explore the battlefield.

Stop #9: Mill Springs Battlefield

Time: 1 Hour

Details: https://www.nps.gov/misp/index.htm

The Battle of Mill Springs was fought on January 19, 1862, in rural Pulaski County, Kentucky. It was the first significant victory for the Union in the Civil War.

What to do:

• Explore the visitor center and museum.
• Take a battlefield driving tour.